Author: Jessica

This season Idol has been shedding female contestants like… something that sheds a lot; my cats, for example. I have to think that if they had kept Lauren Turner in the competition, this may not have been the case (recall that she was not even invited to sing to be in the top 13, despite being considerably more talented than, just to pick one, Stefano Langone). I could easily see her outlasting Thia Megia and Naima, for example, and probably some of the guys (though lord knows we hate to vote off guys) as well. She could be right up there in my favorites list with Casey, James, and Haley. Alas, ’twas not to be.

In case anyone has forgotten how awesome she was the one time we got to see a full performance from her, here’s her Top 24 rendition of “Seven Day Fool.”

Fortunately for us, she’s still making music; check out her Youtube channel, particularly this video she recorded of Adele’s “Crazy for You.” Someone sign this girl, stat!

This year, American Idol is shown on Wednesday and Thursday nights, rather than the Tuesday/Wednesday showing of yore (naturally the three-day weeks, i.e. during the Top 24, were still Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday). Personally, I prefer the old Tuesday/Wednesday timeslots. What do y’all think?

Cast your vote:

What Idol timeslot do you prefer?

I’m not really inclined to agree that Naima is the next most likely to be voted off. She’s just more memorable than some of the other girls, although her performances for the past couple of weeks have been at best uneven (and, to be perfectly honest, pretty bad at times). That said, when you say something about Naima, people who watch Idol will know immediately who you’re talking about. The judges call this “flavor” or, perhaps, “flava.” When you say “Haley” or perhaps even “Thia” it may take people a moment to recall who you’re talking about. I’m guessing this might have played some part in Karen’s early elimination; Karen is just such a boring name, and didn’t really express who she was as a person (not that I demand everyone have a stereotypically ethnic name should they fail of being a white person).

I confess I hope the next person to be eliminated is a guy, and I do hope that it is Paul. I can really do without him, and again, I feel like when someone starts talking about “Paul” I don’t instantly know who they mean. “Oh, you mean the real quiet dude who you can barely hear?” I have a feeling that having an interesting name (Ace Young, for example) may play some small factor, though we have done no data analysis looking into that theory. “Paul McDonald” just isn’t it. It doesn’t even have the pleasing assonance of “Casey Abrams.” For that as well as his generally mediocre-to-crappy singing and performance style, I would say that if American sends a guy home, it will and should be Paul.

If the anti-female bias does come into play, I would definitely put my metaphorical money on Haley over Naima, but I have been wrong many times before.